


Drama Llama

by vanityvause



Category: Emmerdale, vanity - Fandom
Genre: F/F, LGBTQ Character, LGBTQ Female Character, LGBTQ Themes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-09
Updated: 2018-10-09
Packaged: 2019-07-28 13:42:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,294
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16242812
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vanityvause/pseuds/vanityvause
Summary: There’s a crash and Vanessa is missing.Gasp.





	Drama Llama

**Author's Note:**

> This is part of the vanityfest hashtag. 
> 
> Day 2’s contribution from me. 
> 
> Theme: Tropes. 
> 
> I chose the a prompt to do with someone getting hurt but I went left field with it. I hope you enjoy it anyway. I wrote it in the middle of the night on no sleep. 
> 
> I also used this as a little exercise to write a few other characters. Hope you like them too!

“Is Charity here?” Rhona asked slightly out of breath as she rushed into the Woolpack looking panicked.

“Yeah, she’s just nipped out back to grab something.“ Chas responded, one hand on her hip, the other resting atop one of the beer taps. It didn’t take her long to see something was up. “Is everything alright, Rhona?”

Charity paid no mind to the punters in the pub, much to their dismay. She could be a brilliant bar woman given the right mood but more often than not she wasn’t in that mood. Couldn’t be bothered and silently judged them all for drinking at all hours of the day. It didn’t matter that she’d do it herself, that was besides the point and nobody had better bring it up either.

She wandered back through the door behind the bar like she had all day, her eyes firmly on the phone she’d just collected from its charge point in the living room. “That’s weird, babe,” she addressed her cousin, noting Rhona’s existence but choosing to ignore it.

“Charity!” Rhona wasn’t quite as obliging when it came to ignoring her back.

Chas glanced between the two women, trying to work out what on gods green earth was going on.

“What?!” Charity snapped. She really had no time for a vet who wasn’t her girlfriend.

“Have you seen Ness today?” Rhona had handled worse than Charity Dingle, she wasn’t intimidated and she’d been told time and time again that the sassy one was more bark than bite by a certain small blonde they had in common. She wasn’t so sure about that but trusted her best friend enough to take her word for it.

Charity’s face dropped. She was suddenly all ears.

“No?”

Her tone was a few seconds ahead of her, questioning the other woman before she’d even uttered the real question.

“Why?”

Charity carefully placed her phone down on the bar top, walking around to the other side to be closer to her girlfriend’s best friend so they didn’t have to raise their voices over the sound of the early drunkards dotted around the room.

Chas glanced down at the phone screen, still on and open on a text thread headed ‘The Mrs’ with a rocket emoji one side and a bright yellow sunshine the other. There appeared to be a row of messages in blue, none Chas actually focused in on. She had more sense than to let herself read any private exchanges between Charity and Vanessa. Some things just couldn’t be unseen. Three, maybe four blue messages and none in any grey boxes signaling replies.

Quickly Chas put two and two together and during the moment she’d taken to glance down and come to her own conclusion, Rhona had filled in the blanks.

“She didn’t show up for work this morning and the only time that happens is when it’s something to do with you.”

Charity didn’t appreciate Rhona’s accusation, as true as it was.

“Yeah alright, it was only the once.”

Rhona couldn’t help herself, correcting the blonde, “Twice.”

Charity rolled her eyes. “Twice then. Does it matter?!”

Rhona sighed. How did Ness put up with this woman? She really couldn’t see the appeal.

It took Chas to weigh in between serving customers like the brilliant multitasker she was, to remind the two women that Vanessa was potentially missing.

————————————

Faith tottered into the Woolpack with two hands filled with shopping bags and with an exasperated sigh she plonked them down on the floor just shy of the bar stool she was to claim. Perching herself on her chosen seat, she leaned in on an elbow, “Oh, I’ve had one hell of a day, Chas, love, how about a stiff drink to make it all better?”

Chas made a beeline for her mother, grabbing a glass and pouring her some wine from an already opened bottle sat on the back bar. “I don’t think I’ve got the energy to hear why, but I’m sure you’re gonna tell me all about it.”

The older woman flashed a cheeky smile as she claimed her drink, taking a well earned sip. It wasn’t the stiff drink she had in mind but if it was free, she wasn’t going to complain about it. “I spotted a sale on in one of those teen fashion shops in Hotten and decided to see if there was anything I could spoil our Sarah with, the poor little mite, she’s so bored stuck in that hospital room.”

Her daughter had already partially zoned out, but she was a natural at making it look like the person wittering on in front of her had her attention. It was a skill a bar woman needed to stay sane. She peered over the bar and set eyes on the many bags Faith had with her. “Looks like you covered the next six birthdays and a couple of Christmases with that lot.”

Faith chuckled. “Don’t be daft, love. It’s hardly anything.”

Her wine glass was empty in a flash, pushed towards Chas in a quiet hint for a refill.

Chas took that hint, but quickly informed her dear mum that, “That one’ll be £4.60. If you can afford to break the bank on Sarah, you can afford a fiver for me.”

Faith frowned but didn’t falter at digging into her handbag to pull out the right change for the drink.

“There was a terrible crash on the bus route, I’ll have you know. A woman is dead!”

It sometimes felt like Chas was the only one with a brain in the pub, at least that’s the way she saw it and again, she quickly put two and two together hoping to god she’d come up with nine instead of four.

“A crash? Mother! Why didn’t you bloody open with that!”

Faith was none the wiser, nursing her second glass of wine as her daughter rushed off to find her phone.

————————————

Charity was already in a flap, her heart was racing and she was about ready to throw her phone across the room in Tug Ghyll, frustrated that all of her texts and phone calls to Vanessa had gone unanswered. She and Rhona had clashed more than ever given their heightened moods, and Charity had thrown the other woman out in a rage fuelled by worry.

“Come on, Vanessa, where are you?!” She bounced on her heels like a child with too much pent up energy.

It was then that her phone started to ring and she nearly lost it. Didn’t even look to see who was calling before she hit the green button to pick up.

“Ness?!”

It was Chastity.

“Oh, it’s you.”

There was a moment for an audible “charming!” down the other end of the line before Chas pulled herself together and broke the news to her cousin. There had been an accident. A woman was involved and it was pretty serious. She didn’t think it was wise to tell Charity over the phone that Faith mentioned said woman dying.

Charity went quiet, her heart as good as fell out the bottom of her feet taking all the colour she had in her face with it.

————————————

At the hospital, Charity burst in through the doors leaving Rhona and Tracy in her dust. She was at the reception desk in no time at all, desperately seeking information on any woman who’d been brought in from a car accident.

“Woodfield!” She snapped, “Wood. F-I-E-L-D.”

The poor receptionist was like a deer in headlights, tapping away at the keyboard in front of her in search of the name she’d been given in the hospitals computer system.

“Charity, take a deep breath.” Tracy piped up, having caught up along with Rhona. Her own heart was beating so fast it was making her dizzy but there was no use in all three of them behaving like lunatics. Rhona was already grabbing passing doctors and nurses to ask if they’d seen this mystery woman who’d been seriously injured in a crash.

“I don’t want to take a bloody deep breath!” Charity shot back at Vanessa’s younger sister, shrugging off the friendly hand that had come to offer a little comfort at her shoulder.

Tracy backed off immediately. Her tone softer than usual with an edge of defeat. “Alright. Keep yer wig on. God!”

She wasn’t sure why she was playing comforting friend to Charity and Rhona anyway, they might have been Vanessa’s girlfriend and best friend but she was her sister. Her own flesh and blood. Inside there was steam rising, but instead of fuelling a fire already very much burning, Tracy chose to remain quiet for once.

“There doesn’t seem to be anybody by that name in the system.” The sheepish girl behind the desk told Charity.

“Well have another look then!” A very wound up, worried Charity hit back.

While she hung over the desk eagle eyed, Tracy decided to try ringing her dad again to see if he’d heard from her sister. Rhona paced, her ears pricked up ready to overhear anything the receptionist had to say.

With three eager women waiting to find out the fate of a small blonde very close to their hearts lingering, the receptionist excused herself with a sudden paleness coming over her. She’d heard about a crash with no survivors but held onto her professionalism and needed to triple check her facts before she had anyone come and break the news to anybody.

Charity didn’t know what to do with herself. As usual there wasn’t a Dingle in sight, sure to have their excuses as to why they weren’t with her lending their support in yet another situation where she found herself severely out of her depth. And there was no little rocket there to put her at ease.

All of a sudden panic set in. What if something terrible had happened to Vanessa? They’d come on leaps and bounds and Charity had finally trusted someone enough to open her heart up fully. The pessimist in her broke out, sending thoughts through her mind like it was her own fault or just her luck, it was just what happened to Charity Dingle, happiness wasn’t meant for her and if she was lucky enough to get her grubby little mits on it for half a second, it would soon be torn away from her.

She couldn’t catch her breath. One of her hands grabbed for the desk’s edge to steady her as she doubled over, gasping like every last bit of oxygen was being sucked straight out of her lungs.

“Miss Dingle?” An unfamiliar voice called out as it closed in on the three women.

“Charity, are you okay?” Tracy managed to put her distaste aside, doing what she knew her sister would want her to do in this situation and simply be there for the difficult one.

Charity clearly wasn’t okay. Her hand grasped the material covering her chest, clawing at it and tugging like it was strangling the life out of her.

“Miss Dingle!” That unfamiliar voice was a nurse.

Rhona stepped forward, doing the same thing Tracy had. If Ness wasn’t there, they were to keep an eye out for Charity, whether they liked it or not. “What is it?” She asked for Charity, bringing herself to the spot in front of the nurse while Tracy tried her best to calm a hyperventilating landlady.

“There was a collision earlier this morning that resulted in a fatality” the nurse explained. Tracy slowly rising from her crouched position in absolute horror. Rhona paused too. Charity was deaf to anything being said anyway, her ears muffled by a non existent tidal wave that had already swallowed her whole.

“We don’t yet know who the female driver was.”

Tracy’s face went a shade of green. “W-well what kind of car was she driving? This woman?”

Rhona thought she had a point, there was no way they were accepting their Ness was harmed or God forbid, gone without confirmation. She tried her best to keep her most logical head on, reaching out to take Tracy’s hand and give it a gentle, comforting squeeze.

“I don’t know. I’m sorry to have to tell you this, I just wanted to prepare you in case.” The nurse explained.

By this time Charity had collapsed into a heap on the floor next to the reception desk, another nurse rushing over to tend to her.

Tracy’s legs wanted to give way too, so she made use of Rhona’s hand and grabbed on tight. “Can we sit down? Please?”

Rhona wasn’t sure how she was being so strong, but someone had to. Her logical mind wasn’t her strongest mind in a situation like this one so there was a constant battle happening in her head. The easiest thing to do was to take Tracy and sit down, so that’s what she did.

————————————

“Tracy??” Frank appeared through the double doors of the hospital, making his way directly to his youngest daughter who was looking a little worse for wear, sat in a waiting room chair next to Rhona.

“Dad!” The blonde exclaimed, jumping up just in time to be scooped up into a tight hold by him.

“I got your messages,” he explained, “—What’s wrong with Charity?”

He really should have continued without getting sidetracked, but it was pretty difficult an ask when Charity Dingle was fighting off two very attentive male nurses who were trying to help her up off the ground.

“Has she been drinking?” Frank seemed baffled.

“No, she’s freaking out over Vanessa,” Rhona piped up, standing up to approach her friend’s dad.

“What about her?”

Tracy looked at her father baffled. “I thought you got my messages?”

“Yeah, well I only listened to the first one before Chastity told me where to find you. You left fourteen messages, Tracy.”

“So you don’t know that there was an accident then,” Tracy looked worried, she’d hoped Frank had already known.

“I do, but what’s that got to do with us?”

Both Rhona and Tracy looked at Frank like he was crazy.

“It might be Vanessa.” Rhona broke to him gently.

Frank chuckled. “No, you’ve got it wrong.”

This time even Charity stopped kicking off to pay attention.

“She’s in the carpark fighting with a temperamental ticket machine!”

With those words alone it was as if all the air that had been taken from the room had suddenly been let back in. Both Rhona and Tracy took a deep breath. Charity however was still knocked for six, stumbling backwards and not helping her case whatsoever. The nurses were beginning to think Frank had a point, she was drunk, that or she needed to be sectioned under the mental health act.

————————————

Rhona and Tracy had followed Frank who’d marched off back towards the double doors that lead to the carpark outside, wanting to set eyes on Vanessa for themselves. Surely he wasn’t wrong, but on the off chance that he was... well, they didn’t want to take that chance.

Just as they reached the automatic doors, a small blonde came in like she had a rocket under her feet.

“Tracy?” She flew over to her sister and gave her a hug. “Rhona!” Her best friend was next. “What’s going on? Who’s hurt?”

Suddenly her own heart sank. The lack of Dingles in the waiting area didn’t put her mind at ease one bit. That seemed to be a theme for them. Never bloody there when Charity needed them the most.

“Don’t tell me it’s—“ she lost her breath, her eyes filling to the brim with tears.

Her dad and sister didn’t have chance to say anything, Rhona giving her shoulder a light squeeze, “Ness...” followed by a subtle point behind her.

It was an easy mistake, the one she was looking for was overshadowed by two male nurses and now a burly security guard who was ready to manhandle her for not being able to control herself.

“GET OFF ME, YOU FLAMIN’ OGRE! DIDN’T YOUR MUM TEACH YOU ANY MANNERS?!”

Yeah. That was her girl.

Vanessa marched over like she wasn’t the smallest grown human in the room and like three men would be intimidated by her. “Charity!”

“Ness?!”

Vanessa didn’t need to intimidate anyone or gain super strength to pull them off of her girlfriend.

The trouble maker emerged by herself, giving the security guard a shove on her way through.

“Babe, I thought you...” she didn’t finish her sentence before the smaller woman had clung to her like a limpet. Charity clinging right back for a short while. She then had to see her just to make sure, her hands cupping Vanessa’s face so that she could have a good look at her.

“You thought I what?” Vanessa asked with concern all over her face.

“There was a nasty crash with no survivors. You didn’t show up to work, you didn’t answer my texts and my calls—“

Charity was overcome with emotion, something the three stood behind hadn’t witnessed come out in any way other than the ruckus she’d been causing just now. This time there were tears, she was a sobbing mess who so clearly had been terrified of losing the love of her life.

Frank spoke quietly to the two women beside him, “Johnny thought it would be funny to pack her phone in his bag and take it to nursery, she went back to get it and ...well you’ll have to ask her where she was for the rest of the morning, we didn’t get that far.” It didn’t really matter to him, as long as she was safe and well and it looked like everyone else was too. Except for one, but he didn’t know her.

“Oh babe, oh I’m so sorry,” Vanessa felt awful.

She’d had a moment of sheer panic just now when she’d throught for a split second that Charity had been the one in the accident, she couldn’t imagine how it felt for her poor girlfriend to have thought that for a good hour or two.

“Come here.” She claimed Charity’s face in her hands, planting sporadic kisses all across her cheek before landing a smacker on her lips and pulling her in for a hug she felt like she’d never let go of. “I’m here. You’re not getting rid of me that easily.”

Charity sniffled, she wanted to laugh but her heart was still in her throat. It would take her a few minutes at the very least to breathe again.

In that moment, the three most important people to Vanessa aside from the one in her arms, got to see just how deep a connection she had with Charity Dingle. Johnny topped her most important list but he didn’t count in this instance because he’d already made up his mind, he agreed with his mummy. Charity was worthy of so much love.

Tracy dabbed a tear from beneath her eye, Rhona catching it and letting out a small laugh, “You soppy cow.”

Frank patted both women on the back, “Come on, let’s get out of here.”

Nobody wanted to stay in a hospital longer than was necessary and now the misunderstanding was sorted out they could go.

Vanessa wasn’t quite ready to let go of Charity yet, letting the others leave without them. They had Rhona’s car out there anyway.

“I love you,” Charity finally took a breath.

The shorter woman would never tire of hearing that.

“I love you more.” She replied, reaching down to take Charity’s hand. “Let’s go home.”

Charity was spent, too drained from the day to put up a fight. Not that she wanted to.

“Fancy thinking I was dead,” Vanessa put light to the situation, bumping hips with the taller blonde. “daft mare.”


End file.
